Hand-truck



(No Model.)

B. H. HASKINS. HAND TRUCK 1N0. 461,433. Patented 0013.20, 1891.

PIE. 1.

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INVENTUR EENJAM'IN H. HAEKINE, Z27 y co., mom-tuna WASKINGYON, u. c. I

Unrrnn STATES ATENT Erica.

BENJAMIN H. HASKINS, OF MECHANICSVILLE, NEW YORK.

HAN D-TRUCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 461,433, dated October20, 1891.

Application filed March 31, 1888. Serial No, 269,132. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that I, BENJAMIN H. HASKINS, of Mechanicsville, in the countyof Saratoga and State of New York, have invented certain Improvements inHand-Trucks, of which the following description, in connection with theaccompanying single sheet of drawings, constitutes a specification.

This invention is designed to facilitate the transportation of articlesof freight like barrels, boxes, heavy sacks, or bags of material whichare too heavy or cumbersome to be moved conveniently by hand.

It consists in a novel proportion and arrangement of parts whereby abetter initial hold upon the-article to be moved is obtained, so thatvery little outlay of strength is called for to load it onto the truckready for transort. p My invention is fully shown in the drawings,wherein my improvement is shown in plan in Figure 1, in side elevationin Fig. 2, in end elevation in Fig. 3. Fig. 4 is a perspective View ofthe grappling-hook. Fig. 5

shows the position of the truck as elevated to take on a cask, and Fig.(3 shows the same cask as loaded in and position for transport.

The constituent parts of my truck are an axle-head A, which is a solidcasting having the two axle'stnds H H cast integral therewith andcentrally perforated with a socket for the reception of the handle 13.Over each wheel is a fender G, having a forwardly-projecting extensionD, which reaches somewhat beyond the front of the wheeland which I terma fulcrum-point. These two fulcrumpoints project forwardly in linessubstantially parallel with the handle, but in any event so that whenthe handle is elevated they will strike the floor, and their ends are somade that they will stick there and not slip backwardly when the wheelsare lifted off their bearings, as shown in Fig. 4. At either end of theaxle-head and justinside of the fender G a spurE is pivoted, so as toturn forwardly and backwardly. When turned up it rests againsttheshoulder b,which prevents its turn ing forward any farther. In cartingfilled Sacks or bags these spurs .are turned back; but in moving barrelsand boxes they are thrown up, so that when the load is tilted back itwill rest on the spurs, as seen in Fig.6.

The cross-bar .F is attached to the handle at about an average distancefrom the axle to accommodate theaverage sizes or dimensions of suchpackages as the truck is adapted to handling. It may be rigidly attachedor made what longer the other way than the corre-' sponding dimensionsof the handle. This is so as to permit the hook to slip up and down onthe handle when the'point of the hook is engaged with or hooked onto anyobject to be moved. This hook is separable from the handle and may beused like any other hand-hook.

The objects and advantages of my invention are apparent from its mode ofuse. As han d-trucks are commonly constructed, when moved up to a box orcask'considerable outlay of strength is requisite to lift the object soas to get the truck under it in such a way as to bring the bottom partof the loadunder control of the truck. One feature of construction of mytruck which is designed to aid in overcoming this difficulty consists inthe fulcrum-points D D projecting forward of the wheels. The advantageaccruing from this peculiar construction results from this fact, thatwhen the truck-handle Bis elevated to nearly a vertical position thepoints D D strike and rest upon the floor or ground, points downward,and further lifting takes the wheels off their bearing, as seen in Fig.5. In this condition the truck cannot run back when the load is pulledover toward or against it in the act of loading, for the reason that thepoints D D act on the floor or ground as spikes to resist backward slip.Another advantage accrues from the fact that in loading a box, cask, orany similar article when the truck is elevated and run up against it, asin Fig. 5,-the spurs engage with or enter the wood of the package, whilethe points D D reston the floor. Hook J is then struck into the box orcask, and the rectangular eye is crowded down on the handle until thehook cramps the load firmly against the cross-bar E, which result isaided by the bent shape of the hook, and thus the truck becomesattached, as it were, to the load. Then with the handle B as the longarm of a lever and the point D as a fulcrum, it only remains to tilt theload toward the-truck by rocking the load on its bottom front cornernearest fulcrum-point D, which is very easily done, as the load is notlifted off its base at all until the wheels strike the floor and thefulcrumpoint is shifted from the points D D to the bearing-points of theWheels on the floor. As the load is further canted, it is prevented fromsliding back by spurs E E. In other words, the points D D engage thefloor and are as sharp as they can be made and maintain a bite on thefloor Without slipping or damagingthe floor. When the truck is hookedonto the cask or box, as shown, these points are in the closest possibleproximity to the chine of the cask nearest the truck or the lower backcorner of the box. Now when. the

backward tilting movement starts the cask.

or box is not lifted off the floor at all, but is simply tipped overtoward the truck and balanced on its chine or corner until its center ofgravity is approximately over the wheels at the moment they strike thefloor. From this position but a trifling effort is necessary to draw thetruck down into position to be trundled along, for after the center ofgravity of the load has passed the point of contact of the base with thefloor it will, by its own Weight, fall over toward the truckman,carrying the truck down with it. This feature of operation whereby thecenter of gravity of the load is drawn over back behind its base orpoint of contact with the floor before the load is lifted, incombination with the means for holding the load bound to the truck,distinguishes this truck from all other existing types.

It sometimes becomes convenient to slip off hook J and invert itsposition so that the hook will hang down under the handle for thepurpose of lifting articles from the ground or floor.

From experience it'has been found that the improvements in leverage, asdeveloped in this invention, enable one freight-handler to floor,substantially as specified, therelative position and arrangement of saidfulcrum points and wheels being such that when the truck is moved up toa bundle, sack, or other object, and the fulcrum-points are by theelevation of the handle depressed until a bite of the same is securedupon the floor or ground close to the base of the load, and the grapnelis hooked onto the top of the bundle or-sack, the drawing back of saidhandle will tip the load toward the operator until its center of gravityis carried well over the Wheels before in their descent they touch thefloor, as a condition precedent to the lifting the load off its base,substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, in ahand-truck, of the fulcrum-points l) D, spurs EE, pivoted to turn over, substantially as shown, and grapnel-hook J,arranged to co-operate substantially in the manner described, and forthe purpose specified.

3. The combination, in a hand-truck, of the spurs E E, pivoted on theframe, the cross-bar F, attached to the handle, and removable hook J,adapted to co-operate with the handle, substantially in the mannerdescribed, and for the purposes set forth.

4. The combination, in a two-Wheeled handtruck, of the projectingfulcrum-points D D, the spurs E E, crossbar F, and grapnel-hook J,adapted to slide on the truck-handle, substantially as described and setforth.

In testimony whereof I have hereto subscribed my name at NorthBennington, Vermont, this 3d day of January, A. D. 1888.

BENJAMIN H. HASKINS.

In presence of FRANKLIN Scorr, E. H. IVORTHINGTON.

